Top 10 Soap Opera Tropes that Most Need to Be Retired

As a soap opera watcher for almost 3 decades, I've grown tired of lazy head writers and producers who consistently write the same repetitive storylines centered around tropes! I believe strongly this is why the genre is on life support because of tomfoolery. Here are my top 10 tropes that needs to be retired and NEVER be used again.
The Top Ten
Returns from the dead

As much as I hate seeing certain characters I love being killed off, like Adam Newman, Bo Brady, and EJ Dimera, life does go on! The characters I named all have children who could be aged or who, if already aged, could carry their deceased parents' legacy. Writers and producers, think before you kill off characters! Don't kill them off for a ratings ploy. It should be strategic, especially if the character is downright abominable and has done far too much damage.

Killing beloved characters, such as Maureen Bauer of Guiding Light or Ryan Harrison from Another World, and legacy characters, like Will Horton before he came back due to viewer outrage, is not okay.

Rape/Sexual assault/rapemances used as plot device or for shock values

In the era of the Time's Up and MeToo movements, soaps must stop glamorizing rape culture and dismissing it as just a soap opera. That should no longer be an excuse! Rapemances are also unacceptable. There is nothing sexy or romantic about being raped in real life, so why should it be fine on a daytime soap?

Luke Spencer and Jack Devereaux are some of the few characters who have raped popular female heroines on daytime TV, and they were redeemed like it never happened, forcing the female characters to move on. Sami Brady was raped and then became a rapist when she drugged Austin on Days. Chelsea on Y&R raped Billy and had his baby. The most disturbing rape I ever saw was when Chase raped his stepsister Ciara on the Horton living room couch. There was no education or disclaimer. It was just used for shock value. In my opinion, Days has never recovered since that rape happened to Bo and Hope's daughter.

The best-written rape stories ever told came from GH's Liz, OLTL's Marty gang rape, and YR's Christine (both of hers were about rape and sexual harassment). These are the stories daytime should tell! Other than that, the genre of love in the afternoon uses rape as an act of seduction, which is sickening.

Baby switches/switched at birth

Not only is this trope ridiculous, but it drags on forever! Most of these stories take about 2-3 years to finish, and in an era of a dying genre, soaps don't need this storyline!

Brain tumors and brain injuries to give an excuse for characters doing bad behavior

Remember when Roger Thorpe was a classic SOB you loved to hate on Guiding Light? Well, in this age of soaps, to create flawed characters, they use a bump on the head, brain trauma, or brain tumors as excuses. If you don't believe me, look at Franco from GH!

Doppelganger/Evil twins/Long lost twins

Marco/Jack... Princess Gina/Hope... Cassie/Mariah... how ridiculous. I'm sure the performers can turn poor material into something watchable, but I can only suspend my disbelief for so long with these types of stories. If your last resort as a soap writer is to use doppelgangers and evil twins, then you should consider another line of work before the executive or network decides for you.

Repetitive love triangles with no end insight

Steffy/Liam/Hope from The Bold and the Beautiful, anyone? When in doubt, they go back to doing the same mind-numbing triangle that never ends! How silly that two women or two men would actually fight over someone for such long, extended periods. That's not cute at all.

D. I. D. storylines

Is this the only mental health story writers know how to write these days? This trope is often done in elaborate ways to expand storylines and to give certain characters an edge. Sometimes, these characters with D.I.D. are also raped, used as a plot device. The writers and executives of this genre need to move beyond this tired trope and portray a wider range of mental illnesses and disorders.

Unplanned/Unexpected pregnancy

With all the discussions about contraception and condoms in households, classrooms, and pop culture, why are unexpected pregnancies still happening on soaps? It's so dated, especially since the writers aren't even brave enough to tackle pro-choice stories. Come on, soap writers. You can do better than playing it so safe.

Women always needing to be saved by a man

With great supercouples like Luke/Laura, Steve/Kayla, John/Marlena, and Roger/Holly, there was an era where female characters needed "saving" by a man when in danger. Now, in 2018, why can't a woman do it by herself? She doesn't always need rescuing by a man when she's in a bad situation. She can find her own way to save herself in moments of crisis without it being ridiculous or unrealistic.

This is basically done in every form of media - Western Animation, Anime, Video Games, etc.

The rush to SORAS legacy characters so vets can have a storyline.

I liked when Kimberly McCullough grew up on screen with General Hospital. Sometimes there shouldn't be a rush to get little kid characters rapidly aged so their parents can have storylines, or we end up with a bunch of bratty teenagers arguing in triangles. Sometimes, let the children stay children.

The Newcomers

? Jealousy
? Soap Opera Disease (TV Tropes)

The writers create a fake illness that is unrealistic, confusing, vague, and makes no sense, all for the sake of drama. It's like Clannad and Your Lie in April.

The Contenders
"The Tale of Two..."

This definitely goes hand in hand with returns from the dead and long-lost twins. The first "tale of two" stories was done on Days with John Black and the real Roman Brady. Jump ahead at least 25 years, and we have "the tale of two Todds" with the real Todd and Victor Jr. on OLTL. The latest is "The Tale of Two Jasons" dealing with Jason and Drew on GH. All I'm saying is it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to tell these stories, and they can be taxing! Not my favorite trope, that's for sure.

Amnesia

"Who am I? Where am I?" My favorite amnesia story ever was Hope's on Days when she thought she was Gina, which was an epic comeback story for the actress. Since then, it seems like the genre has just been copying each other with this type of story. You have to be an excellent writer to sell me on the idea if you add an amnesia plot point to your story.

Microchips

Microchips in the brain to alter the memory of a character. Stupid! In a genre that's hanging on by a thread, if a writer even remotely pitches such garbage, they should be fired and their keyboard thrown out the window.

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